


Why We Have Walls

by Shuvuuia



Category: Sins of the Cities Series - K. J. Charles
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Justin takes a beating to save Sukey and Em, M/M, Nathaniel and Mark arrive just in time, Penn is mentioned but not present, Protective Justin, Protective Nathaniel, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-25 13:05:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17725739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shuvuuia/pseuds/Shuvuuia
Summary: An old acquaintance from the past comes to visit Justin, and it could only mean trouble.TW: Attempted rape and threat of sexual violence, but help arrives soon enough. Past abuse and other issues about growing up on the streets will be referenced.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sukey breaks my heart in so many ways. 
> 
> Not a lot of life in this fandom since relationships are canon, but this series is somewhat of an guilty pleasure of mine. So this happened. I don't usually write or read any stories including even the threat of sexual violence, because that is usually a huge nope for me, but for some reason I wrote this. 
> 
> I have at least one more chapter for this, but probably not much more.

Nathaniel was at Robin Hood Yard with Mark waiting for Justin to arrive. They were supposed to see Penn’s new show. He was performing first time with a new partner, after his twin sister had left the circus. Greta was happily married with Tim, though having to adjust a little to a normal life outside of the show business. Justin was late, and Mark was seemingly annoyed by it. He really wanted to see this opening show, and it was definitely not the first time Justin was late. He had several bad habits, and this was definitely one of them. Mark gave a meaningful look to Nathaniel, but didn’t say anything.  
“He’ll be here soon. Justin knows this is important to you.” Nathaniel just said, painfully aware that if Mark had for whatever reason annoyed his new business partner last week, Justin might be late just to irk him. 

Nathaniel started to feel uneasy after twenty minutes, when Justin still hadn’t arrived. They would miss the start of the show soon. Just as he was about to tell Mark to go ahead and not wait for him and Justin, there was a frantic knock on the door.  
“Well fucking finally!” Mark exhausted and went to open the door, but instead of Justin, there were Emma and Sukey. They had clearly been running the whole way, and both of them looked very startled.  
“You gotta come quick! He’s gonna kill ‘im!” Sukey yelled, more at Nathaniel than to Mark, whom they knew but didn’t yet trust as much. Nathaniel was standing a little behind Mark, but he immediately understood that something was very wrong, if Justin had sent both girls out of the house.  
“Who? Oi! Calm down girls, what’s happening?” Mark said, and Sukey looked at him like they really didn’t have any time for this.  
“It’s this guy, from way back. You know, street fella. He visits every now and again and it’s always trouble, but this time Justin really pissed him off!” Sukey yelled. Nathaniel didn’t need more information.  
“Wait here! Don’t come to the house until we come and get you, understood?” He said to Sukey and Emma, before running out of the door without his hat or coat. Mark followed him, but he had the good sense to first grab a club he kept near the door, and hide it underneath his coat. This sounded like a situation where it might come in handy. 

It only took a moment for them to run to Justin’s house, but Nathaniel did get a couple of odd looks. At this time of the year, most people wouldn’t have gone outside without a coat even if the house was on fire, and he was running in a very ungentlemanly way through the streets without coat or a hat. The door at the Hanging Sword Alley was ajar, Emma and Sukey hadn’t closed it, they had just run away as fast as they could.  
“Justin!” Nathaniel yelled from the door. No one answered, but they could hear noises from the parlour. There was a loud thump against one of the walls. 

They quickly followed the noise. Neither Justin nor the man he was fighting with had heard them come in, although it was a bit much to call this a fight, as Justin had been losing from the beginning. The room was a mess. Furniture was all over the place and someone had clearly been thrown against the table with enough force to break it. A man almost twice the size of Justin had him pinned against the wall, with his arm on his neck, making breathing difficult for him. Justin’s face was covered with blood. His nose was bleeding and he had a deep gouge in his forehead. He was barely conscious, trying to wrench his assailant’s arm away from his neck, to no avail. The man had a nasty looking wound on his arm and there was a small knife on the floor near them. It looked like the bigger man had managed to wrench it off of Justin as he had tried to defend himself. All this was enough on itself, but Nathaniel’s blood froze when he saw that while holding Justin by the neck with his other hand, the attacker was opening his belt with the other one.  
“You fucking gutter whore! You shouldn’t have sent those girls away, you know. This could have been easier for you, but you always make things difficult.” He hissed at Justin, his face so close to Justin’s he could feel his alcohol laced breath on his skin. 

“Get the fuck away from him!” Nathaniel yelled. The man turned around and loosened his grip on Justin’s neck. The lanky man simply fell to his knees, unable to stay upright on his own. He would have fallen further, but the bigger man grabbed him by his hair, yanking his head back. It looked horrible. Justin’s hollow eyes looked straight at Nathaniel, but he wasn’t sure if he really saw him. Now that the man wasn’t strangling him anymore he was gasping for air and spitting blood, and he looked extremely disoriented. The sight of Justin, bloody and on his knees, beside a man with an unbuckled belt and clear intentions made Nathaniel feel nauseous. With only couple of strides he reached them and hit the man as hard as he could. Nathaniel wasn’t much of a fighter, but he was angry enough and the man almost fell, letting go of Justin’s hair. Justin simply collapsed to the floor, but a glimpse of recognition and relief showed in his hazy eyes. 

The man swore and rubbed his aching jaw after Nathaniel’s punch.  
“Who the fuck are you!?” He growled, but didn’t wait for an answer. He was just about to attack when Mark came behind Nathaniel and swung the club to his side. They could hear ribs cracking and the man fell to the floor, yelling.  
“The backup. Now, get the FUCK out of here! I had no intention of murdering anyone tonight but I just might start with you!” Mark hissed to the man on the floor. Nathaniel would have wanted to beat the living shit out of him, but he had other priorities. He ran to Justin, who was lying on the floor face down. He could barely move, but he was still trying to reach the knife. His hands were covered in blood and shaking, as he lay on the floor and was unable to reach the knife that was only couple of inches from his fingertips. Nathaniel kneeled beside him and gently put his hand on Justin’s.  
“Justin, it’s okay, he’s down. You don’t need that. Can you hear me?” Nathaniel asked. He carefully turned Justin to his back on the floor, while he groaned in pain.  
“Nat?” Justin asked and blinked his hazy eyes. “Sukey and Em…?”  
“They are fine, they are waiting at Mark’s. Just... Try to breathe normally, okay?” Nathaniel said, quickly grabbing a pillow from one of the armchairs and putting it underneath his head. “Where does it hurt?”  
“Fucking everywhere.” Justin said, with a hoarse voice, but his breathing started to calm down a little. 

Mark had thrown the attacker out. One swing with the club had broken several of his ribs, and he had not been much of a match after that. He had taken a good mental image in case he would have to describe the man to the police, but he had a pretty good idea that Justin wouldn’t even consider that. Justin could also probably name him, but he had his own ideas about whether the police would help someone like him. And Mark hated to admit that Justin might be right. A reformed con artist would still be a criminal to them. He came back inside and kneeled beside Nathaniel and Justin.  
“He seems concussed. And that looks pretty bad.” Mark said, looking at a gouge on Justin’s hairline. “He could really use a doctor.” Mark said, and Nathaniel nodded, but he was too shocked to actually function. He just held Justin’s hand and tried to keep a handkerchief on the wound on his forehead, staring at the bleeding man with wide eyes. He was clearly terrified of losing Justin, just as he had lost Tony. 

“JUSTIN!” Sukey yelled from the door. Clearly the girls hadn’t listened to Nathaniel when he had told them to stay at Mark’s place. Sukey run to Justin with Emma right after her. Justin managed a small smile, which made his ripped lip bleed a little more. But he didn’t say anything to the girls. He didn’t really know what to say.  
“Sukey, can you run to Cobbler’s Alley and get doctor Stanton? Emma, we need boiling water. Do you have any bandages? Nat, we need to get him off the floor, preferably to a bed.”  
“His bed is upstairs.” Sukey said, noting that Justin was in no condition to climb the stairs.  
“We’ll take care of that, you get the doctor, okay?” Mark said, with a calm and kind voice that told the girls that adults would take care of this mess, and they didn’t need to worry anymore.  
“Alright, Justin do you think you can handle getting up if we help you?” Mark asked and Justin nodded. But he yelled in pain instantly when Nathaniel and Mark tried to get him up.  
“Fuck! My leg!” He gasped, leaning heavily on Nathaniel who looked extremely worried. Justin couldn’t put any weight on his right leg, and he was too weak to stay on just one. Nathaniel and Mark helped him upstairs to his room, one on both sides of him, practically carrying him all the way. It was slow and difficult and Justin was sweating in pain when they finally got him on the bed.  
“It’s okay. Worst is over now. Relax.” Nathaniel said, wiping bloody and wet hair from Justin’s forehead.  
“I think… A broken leg and couple of ribs. Head is pretty banged up too.” Justin said, out of breath like he had just run a marathon. Emma came to the room with a bucket of hot water, bandages and towels. Nathaniel started to get the vest and shirt off Justin so that they could check his injuries, but he instinctively winced away. Under the circumstances his reaction was very understandable, but Mark could almost hear Nathaniel’s heart breaking. Justin started to get his clothes off himself, but his hands were shaking so much he couldn’t get even one button open.  
“May I help?” Nathaniel asked, as gently as he could. Justin stubbornly tried the buttons one last time, but finally gave up and nodded. Mark understood that the situation was rather delicate and moved out of the room with Emma, to wait for the doctor. 

Nathaniel gently got the bloody shirts off Justin.  
“Who was he? …I’m sorry. We should talk about this later. You are still in a shock.” He said and Justin shook his head.  
“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Clearly he wasn’t. “He’s an old… Acquaintance.”  
“What’s his name?”  
“It doesn’t matter.”  
“Justin, please, who is he?” Nathaniel almost begged.  
“Hell, just one of many old faces. We were street kids at the same time. And if you happen to be a scrawny kid, it’s good to make yourself useful for the bigger ones. Either you get protection or at least they don’t beat you up quite as bad. I got myself out of the gutter. He still frequents it, and thinks I owe him.” He stopped just short of saying what he owed him. But he was looking straight to Nathaniel, like challenging him to say something insulting. Like he really was expecting Nathaniel to call him a “gutter whore” and to think less of him because of this. The expectation of hurt broke Nathaniel’s heart all over again. All the defenses he had managed to get through during these past few months were up again, and Justin treated him like he was just another threat. Nathaniel gently helped him to drink some water, trying to be as careful as possible in his movements, so it wasn’t to spook Justin.  
“You owe him nothing.” Nathaniel just said firmly. He didn’t make any accusations nor did he in any way implied that Justin had ever done anything to deserve this. There was little else he could say. He had no idea what his life had been like, he couldn’t even imagine being a child and living on the streets.  
“Well I fucking know that!” Justin yelled. Internally he was screaming not to do this, not to take this out on Nathaniel, but he couldn’t really help himself. Anger just came out, and he directed it to the one safe thing.  
“I didn’t mean that…” Nathaniel started.  
“Just let me fucking be!” Justin yelled, still internally screaming the exact opposite. Nathaniel’s face made him feel even more wretched, but he just couldn’t get any apologies or explanations out of his mouth, not before Nathaniel rose and left the room. 

Nathaniel walked to the kitchen just as the doctor arrived. Sukey and Emma went to show him to Justin’s room and Mark walked to the kitchen, stopping at the doorway. Nathaniel was staring out of the window, his back towards Mark, but Mark could tell he was crying.  
“The doctor went to see him. You okay?”  
“No.” Nathaniel said shortly, not feeling like lying. For the first time in years he was crying for a man, and for the first time for someone who wasn’t Tony.  
“Yeah. I heard the yelling. Figured you might not be. Listen, he’s in shock. He was beaten pretty badly and he’s really shaken. Just give him some time.” Mark said. He felt like shaking some sense in to his business partner. He had warned Justin that if he would end up hurting Nathaniel, he would make several enemies, but after seeing all he had seen today, it was difficult to think that Justin’s behavior was all on him. Nathaniel just nodded to Mark, still stubbornly staring out of the window.  
“You missed Penn’s show.”  
“Penn understands. I’ll just have to get a word to him, so he won’t get too worried. What should we do?”  
“Justin might not want me here at the moment, but I can’t leave the girls alone. They are terrified. I’ll just… Stay here and make sure Sukey and Em are fine. I’ll leave after that.” Nathaniel said. He also wanted to hear what the doctor had to say about Justin’s injuries.  
“You are right. I’ll stay with you.” Nathaniel hadn’t asked, but he did glance at Mark and nodded to him, gratefully. Nathaniel was at least as shocked as Sukey and Emma, it was good to have one clear head around. 

After a while the doctor came back downstairs, with Sukey right on his heels.  
“How is he?” Nathaniel asked.  
“Well, the worst thing is that his right leg is broken. I’ve set it and he should stay off of it for a while. That will take longest to heal. I gave him some laudanum and he’s resting comfortably.” The doctor said, and behind him Sukey held a bottle of laudanum, looking at it like it was the vilest poison she had ever seen. Nathaniel had no doubt that a girl of Sukey’s origin had seen many people drown in that substance, but the doctor continued: “I would encourage you to keep an eye on his behavior, sometimes a blow to the head might manifest symptoms only later, but he was reasonably coherent, considering his current state, so I doubt there will be anything to worry. Should I be prepared to make a statement on this?” The doctor asked, raising an eyebrow. He was clearly interested whether this would go to the police.  
“We’ll see.” Mark said dryly. “We’ll contact you if we need anything more.” He said and the doctor nodded, took his hat and left. Nathaniel sat on a chair and took a deep breath. Emma came down the stairs, carrying a basket full of bloody towels.  
“Gosh, it’s been years since he’s gotten beaten this badly.” Sukey sighed, moving to make tea for all of them in the kitchen. Emma took the towels to the washing room and Nathaniel quickly wiped his eyes before turning to face the others.  
“So, not the first time then?” Mark asked, glancing at the girls.  
“With that bloody mouth of his and a career in swindling idiots? No. But I think this is the worst he’s been. Usually people just… Punch him once and storm out. Bill’s always been extra trouble.”  
“His name is Bill?” Nathaniel asked and Sukey gave him a look of fierce determination.  
“Yeah. Bill Toller. Just so you know to beat the shit out of the right bastard. I doubt he lives anywhere, but you can usually find him in one of the watering holes on Old Friar’s Yard.” Sukey had her tiny arms crossed and she was looking at Mark and Nathaniel, in exactly the same way Justin often did. She was challenging them to tell her not to speak like that, not to swear, not to tell them to beat anyone up. Nathaniel could so well understand why Justin had taken Sukey as his apprentice. The girl was smart as a whip and clearly clever beyond her years, and even though they were not related by blood, Justin and Sukey were so similar. But Nathaniel had also seen the childish fear and distress in her eyes, when they came to knock on Mark’s door. Sukey acted old, but she was still a child.  
“Does he bother you often?” Mark asked.  
“Nah. Last time was maybe over a year ago. Justin paid him to leave us alone.” Sukey said, taking teacups and pouring tea for all of them. Nathaniel was surprised to see, that despite all the horror of the day, her hands didn’t shake at all. His did. Especially when he thought, that Justin might have had to pay more than money to get Toller leave the house and the girls alone. 

They drank the tea, mostly in silence. After a while Sukey got up and hid the laudanum bottle in the cupboard, clearly despising the thing.  
“Do you think laudanum’s going to be a problem?” Mark asked, noting her face.  
“No.” Sukey said shortly. “’Cause I ain’t gonna let it be.” She said, glancing at Nathaniel, who seemed even more worried now. “Relax. Justin ain’t the sort. He likes to keep a clear head. He doesn’t even drink all that much. Compared to most mediums, he’s a fucking saint. And he probably needs that shit now, he’s gonna be in all sorts of pain when he wakes up. It’s just that people shouldn’t be in charge of their own doses with that stuff. It messes with your head, even if you weren’t usually the sort to go down that alley.” Sukey explained and Nathaniel and Mark both felt a twinge of pain in their hearts that a twelve-year-old knew all this. 

They helped the girls to clear the parlour and clean the blood of the floor. The closer they got to Mark and Nathaniel to leave, the more the girls where glancing at each other. Finally Nathaniel looked at Mark.  
“You should go. Tell Penn what happened and that… I’m sorry we missed the show. I think if the girls don’t mind, I could stay here and sleep on the sofa tonight?” Justin had wanted him to leave and he might be insulted that he stayed, but Nathaniel considered Sukey and Em. They were scared and surely Justin would understand that. Emma was clearly relieved that Nathaniel was staying. Sukey was probably too, but she did her best to hide it. She had maybe learned a bit too much from Justin. Mark smiled and nodded to them.  
“I’ll come by tomorrow. Just… Keep the doors locked, okay?” He added before leaving. 

Nathaniel stayed up most of the night. Sukey had made him a fire to the parlour and she had made the sofa as comfortable as possible to sleep on. But Nathaniel was just sitting in an armchair and staring at the fire, unable to get the horrible image of beaten and blood covered Justin on his kneels out of his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely happy with this chapter, might change some things and I would appreciate feedback! 
> 
> I also have a huge headcanon where these two idiots are finally happy together, raise the girls and Sukey gets the best education possible and ends up becoming a suffragette, kicking ass and winning life.

Sukey was the first to go and help Justin the next morning. He looked even worse, now that his face had swollen and his eyes blackened during the night. Sukey went and opened the curtains letting sunlight in to the room and poured a glass of water for Justin.   
“Morning. Can you eat anything? Em made porridge, thought it would be something that didn’t hurt your mouth.”   
“Mrrpphh.” Justin woke up to the light when Sukey opened the curtains. After a heavy, laudanum dosed sleep it took a while for him to remember all that had happened. “…Fuck.”   
“It’s fine. All’s fine. Nat stayed. He’s downstairs.” Sukey said, and simultaneous happiness and anger filled Justin. Nathaniel hadn’t left yesterday.   
“I told him to go.”   
“Well, I heard you yell, ‘cause you were being loud, and you didn’t tell him to go. You told him to leave you alone. And he did. He hasn’t been to upstairs, hasn’t he?”  
“Fuck off, Sukey.” Justin said and sighed. He knew he shouldn’t swear to Sukey and that he should teach Sukey not to swear and to act proper and just try to be a better mentor. But snarky comments and swearing had been in their life for too long.  
“You can talk to me like that, ‘cause I know how you are, but Nathaniel’s actually gonna listen to you and do just that.”  
“Well fine by me!”  
“No it’s not! The poor sod really likes you! And we like him! Em and I. Things have been a lot better since he’s been around. You remember the shit that was before?” Sukey crossed her arms across her chest. “You are ruining this on purpose. Like you did with Bess.”   
“Yeah, ‘cause Nathaniel and Bess are just so alike.” Justin snorted.  
“Bess was too good to deal with the likes of us. Nat is so good, he’s gonna deal with us, no matter what. I’d say the latter is better.”   
“Sukey, this is none of your business.” Justin said, and anger flashed in Sukey’s eyes.  
“You were right. Being a medium wasn’t for you. You should’ve been a contortionist, since I’ve never met anyone who can get their head so deep up in their own arse!” She yelled, and looked straight to him, clearly not giving in. “Nat’s downstairs. Talk to him.” She said, sternly.   
“Tell him to go away.” Justin insisted and Sukey lost the little patience she had had with him.   
“He’s not your guest! He’s ours, mine and Em’s, we invited him! And Em’s gonna make tea and scones! And we are gonna be pleasant!” Sukey yelled, before storming out the room and slamming the door closed behind her.

“He doesn’t want me here, Sukey. I have to respect his wishes. Enough people haven’t done that.” Nathaniel said calmly to the furious girl frowning in front of him.   
“Yeah, I get that. But the funny thing is, his brain is wired all wrong. When he says “leave me the fuck alone” he means the exact opposite.”  
“I can’t do that. I have to respect his wishes.”   
“Christ! I didn’t say you should go and bugger him. It’s just no good letting him be alone when he’s all like this.” Nathaniel winced at Sukey’s remark, but the girl just raised her eyebrow sarcastically. “Yeah yeah, we’ve known for a while, it’s nothing to us, really.” She said, waving her hand dismissively, like it was annoying that Nathaniel thought the girls were too blind to notice the men had a relationship right under their noses. “We know how the world works, things ain’t black and white. But just so it’s clear, I’m not giving you permission to anything. Just telling you how he is. He’s a difficult bastard, but if you hurt him, I’m gonna hack you to pieces with a fire poker and Em’s gonna boil those pieces in a kettle and serve them to dogs.” Sukey stated and Nathaniel stared at the small girl, who seemed deadly serious with her threat. She was fierce and she and Emma really loved Justin. He could actually imagine that these girls would probably at least leave dog shit on his door for the rest of his life, if he ended up hurting Justin in any way. Nathaniel sighed.   
“I will try to talk to him. Just… Maybe not yet.” Nathaniel tried, but Sukey was having none of it.  
“Christ with you people. Just go upstairs. Trust me, he really needs it.” She said, pushing Nathaniel towards the stairs.

Nathaniel opened the door to Justin’s room after knocking politely.   
“May I come in?” He asked, and there was just a small nod from Justin, as he was lying on the bed. His face was swollen, black and purple and he still looked a little disoriented. “Are you in pain? Sukey has the laudanum downstairs, I could ask her to get it.” Nathaniel said, moving carefully beside the bed where Justin was laying. He winced when the bed moved under Nathaniel’s weight. It was clear that Justin was in a lot of pain.   
“Don’t.” Justin said, with a hoarse voice. “I already yelled at her. She shouldn’t have to deal with that. Or any of this. She’s thirteen, for fuck’s sake.” Justin said, staring at the ceiling, fighting back tears and feeling incredibly guilty for failing once again to be the responsible adult in this house.  
“I can get it. Would you be alright if I’d help you here for a while? I know you asked me to leave you alone but… I honestly want to help. If you tell me to leave again, I promise I will.” Nathaniel said, with what seemed to Justin to be endless patience. He closed his eyes and swallowed, nodding silently.  
“Please stay.” Justin finally said, his voice raspy and thick and Nathaniel smiled to him a little, gently placing his hand on Justin’s shoulder.  
“I’ll get the medicine, I’ll be right back.” Nathaniel said and got up, in order to go and get the laudanum from downstairs.   
“Nat?”   
“Yes?”   
“I’m sorry.”   
“I know. I’ll be back in a minute.” Nathaniel said, smiling silently. 

He got downstairs, just as Mark was just getting back to the house. Emma had opened the door for him, just cracking the door slightly to see who it was, while Sukey was standing behind the door, ready to strike with a fire poker.   
“Its fine Sukey, it’s Mark.” Emma said and Sukey lowered her weapon. Mark glanced at the girls while they let them in.   
“Everything alright here?”   
“Relatively. “ Nathaniel said. By how Mark was looking at him he could guess he looked like hell. He hadn’t been able to sleep all night and some of his clothes still had Justin’s blood on them. Mark gave a bag full of groceries to Emma, who was happy to take them to the kitchen. Mark and Nathaniel moved to talk to the parlour.

“I did a little digging. I think I might be able to get the bastard to jail, at least for a while. And not for this, for another thing. There’s been series of break-ins and he is pretty close to the description they have on the culprit.”  
“You think he did those?”   
“Maybe, and if they can be pinned on him, do you honestly care? This can’t be the only crime the bastard’s committed. He should go to jail.” Mark said, looking at Nathaniel, who tended to have stricter moral code. But Nathaniel just nodded.   
“Can you make it seem like Justin had nothing to do with it? I don’t want him seeking revenge on him or us if he ever gets out.”   
“Will do. Don’t worry about it.” Mark said, looking at his friend. “Let me take care of this. You have enough to worry around here. How are you holding up?”   
“I’ll be fine. I need to take some laudanum to Justin, he’s awake.”   
“And he’s willing to take help?”   
“Currently, yes. I know you think he’s a…” Nathaniel didn’t quit know how to finish the sentence.  
“Arsehole? Yes, I do. But no one deserves what happened to him. And I’m not stupid, obviously he’s had past dealings with these sorts of things. Considering all that, I’m willing to cut the guy some slack, just promise me you won’t let him treat you like shit.” Mark said, fully aware of Nathaniel and his tendency to put himself last when people needed something. Nathaniel nodded to Mark.   
“I won’t. He’s just... In a bad place right now.”  
“Yeah, I get that.” Mark said, before placing his hat back on his head. “Alright, I’ll go and deal with some of this mess. I’ll come by this evening again to check on things.” Mark said, before leaving again. 

Nathaniel went to the kitchen cupboard and took the laudanum from there. Sukey looked at the bottle in his hand.   
“You know how to use that?” She asked and Nathaniel nodded.   
“The doctor left instructions.”   
“Yeah, the doctor also sells that stuff. Half the dose he ordered.”   
“Justin is in pain.”   
“Yeah, and he’s gonna be in more pain if he needs to kick off that habit after all this. Half a doze or you ain’t gonna be the one giving that to him.” Sukey said, crossing her arms again and looking straight to a man, who was thrice her size. Nathaniel looked at Sukey, certain that there was a good reason why Justin had seemed so gutted when he had suggested Sukey would bring the medicine for them and why she seemed to have such strong opinions about people using it.   
“Alright. I will half the doze. Anything else I should know?”   
“Em’s making food. Will be done in couple of hours or so. See if he would eat something after resting.” Sukey said and Emma, who was currently peeling onions nodded. Sukey seemed to often speak for both of them, even though she was younger than Emma. 

Nathaniel returned to Justin’s room, where he had dozed off for a second. His head jerked a bit from the pillow when Nathaniel entered the room, but he calmed down when he saw who it was.  
“I have the laudanum here. Emma is cooking, do you think you could eat something later?” Nathaniel asked, carefully sitting down by the bedside. Justin looked at him and nodded.  
“If the laudanum doesn’t knock me out for the rest of the day, then yes.”   
“Sukey told me to give you a lower dosage.”   
“Yeah, she’s probably right about that.” Justin said. Nathaniel helped to lift his head from a pillow just enough so that he could take the laudanum. “So… You are staying?” Justin asked, looking at Nathaniel only with his left eye. His right one had swollen shut. And this time his question had a different tone. He was asking whether something that had happened here would drive him away, whether it be his past survival strategies or the way he had yelled at Nathaniel yesterday.   
“I am staying. As long as you’ll let me.” Nathaniel said gently. “And you don’t have to worry about him anymore. Mark is taking care of it.”   
“Mark? He hates my guts.”   
“No. You annoy him. Usually on purpose. But he doesn’t hate you. Nor would he stand by while something like this happens. He’s a good friend, if you let him.”  
“Well shit. What is he going to do?”   
“I find I am usually happier when I don’t know the details, nor should you worry about them either.” Nathaniel said, even smiling a bit and Justin nodded.   
“How are the girls?” Justin asked, so much guilt in his voice it made Nathaniel feel wretched, and he would have none of that. Not when Justin was clearly doing his very best to keep Sukey and Emma out of harms way.  
“Safe, thanks to you. I will help around the house while you are recovering, that is if they let me. I have a feeling they both think I am quite useless.” He smiled and Justin smiled a little.   
“Yeah. Maybe in the kitchen, but Sukey made a pretty strong case for you this morning.”   
“She did? Justin… You know they know about us?” Nathaniel asked and Justin scoffed.   
“of course they do. I’ve trained Sukey and I dare say that girl would make a better con artist then I ever was…” Justin said, noticing the bad look Nathaniel gave him. “…Which she never will because I will send her to school and make sure she gets to use that clever mind of hers. Sukey won’t follow my path, god knows I never want to see her in this situation.” He muttered. “But nothing here goes past her, and she tells Emma almost everything. Don’t worry, it’s not a problem.”  
“It’s not?”   
“Listen, those girls have seen the ugliest filth. And neither one of them thinks that two people who… Enjoy each others company qualify on their list of horrors.” Justin said, his eyes drooping and his speech slurring as the laudanum was truly starting to hit him. Nathaniel had hoped for something stronger than “two people who enjoy each others company”, but he knew that would take time. At this point, he was happy to have even that.   
“Well, Sukey did promise to beat me with a fire poker if I cause any problems for you.” He smiled, brushing some of Justin’s dirty hair from his forehead.   
“See? She likes you.” Justin mumbled, before slowly slipping into sleep. 

Nathaniel sat beside his bed for a long while, looking at the sleeping man and thinking about how he had never imagined anyone like him could have a family, but unable to see Justin, Sukey and Emma as anything else.


End file.
